The New Union
The Confederacy is a multilateral coalition forming the political, logistical, and moral base of support for the Revolution. They are a loose alliance of various different political parties and are connected by a similar ideology, and have come together for the greater good of the country. In all thirteen have been associated with the Confederacy, but there is no hard evidence tying the terrorist actions of a few to any organization outside the local jurisdiction of the county. Furthermore the exact purpose or reason behind many of the Confederacy’s actions remains anonymous. It is hard for any Allied individual or committee to properly address the situation in the United States because of a lack of a uniform message or apparent goal that comes from the Confederacy. Below is the basic information on the known members of the Confederacy. The Federalist Party Leader: President Dennis Hoffhassle Symbol: A Dolphin After World War II, America was divided between those who despised the Soviets and those who really despised the Soviets. The first category included President Truman of the Democrats, as well as most Republicans, and the second included Senator Joseph McCarthy and his populist following. The latter group would form the Federalist Party, united against the Soviets and any traces of Communism while committed to building a great American society that sought a balance between the extremes of Communism and extreme Capitalism that would give all Americans a fair chance to succeed in a system that drew inspiration from the Roosevelts, Jennings Bryan, and Huey Long, which would go on to dominate American politics from 1952 and on, condescending into a broad coalition of populists of all kinds opposing the system represented by the two old parties, whose remnants merged to form the Union party as the war ended, unable to best the Federalists in the Electoral College. While the Federalists supported the wartime coalition of the Allied Nations, they soon turned to opposition against the evolution of the Allies to a political and even social alliance. Upon the arrest of President Ackerman, the political conflicts in the United States were set aside for the Allied question. The Union Party would gather the pro-Allies, and the Federalist Party would become the home for anyone opposing the Allies - a majority of the population. Upon the rise of the Confederates, the Federalist Party de facto provided the infrastructure for much of the movement, and its supporters organise local support manifesting itself through everything from safehouses to recruitment of rebel fighters. Just as many of its leading politicians such as President Hoffhassle have become leading agitators for the rebellion are many of the Confederate reserves originating as mere everyman Federalist supporters taking part in the uprising. If the Confederates are a body, the Federalist Party is its backbone. Continental Army Leader: General of the Army Benjamin Carville Symbol: A Star Despite the Allies requiring a simple loyalty check upon recruitment to the military, a good number of American and foreign soldiers enlisted in the military disagreed privately not only with Allied positions on many questions, but especially with the events concerning President Ackerman - Ackerman was widely known as a popular commander-in-chief, especially among the American National Guard, even though parts of it had participated in Ackerman's death. In secret, several units separately began discussing the forbidden subject: desertion. Some units deserted as early as February, but the majority of the defections occured after the riots in Dallas. Soon the units discovered that they weren't alone, and began meeting to plan the uprising's military aspects, led by the former members of the Presidential guard who had defended Ackerman and disappeared after the battle at Mount Rushmore. Initially, these groups had little coordination between them, and little coherence within themselves. However, a good number of people within these groups realised the same thing; they would have to stand together, or fall divided. Without coherence or unity, the scattered bands and groups fighting against the Allies would be a mere nuisance. A proper organisation and chain of command was necessary if the rebels were to have any real chance of winning. The impact of those people advocating organisation was soon felt. Many groups grew from disorganised, constantly squabbling groups of individuals to (relatively) well coordinated groups that could pose a real threat to the Allies, and those that didn't quickly collapsed. The various groups would remain separate, however, up till the high profile defection of Army General Benjamin Carville from the U.S. military. Realising more acutely than anyone else the importance of organisation, Carville worked day and night to unite the various groups rallying around the Confederate cause. Through sheer force of will, experience, and use of his former military rank Carville was able to achieve this aim, creating a single, coherent fighting force comprising a large number of the groups fighting against the Allies, a force that could hold its own against the Peacekeepers and the Reservists; the Continental Army. The Continental Army is a fully organised, conventional force (though this doesn't stop them from using every trick in the book). By all accounts they follow wartime conventions. They take proper care of POWs, they do not target civilians (an abhorrent thought to the Confederates in the first place), and they all wear uniforms. In particular, a grey jumpsuit, vest, or other conspicuously grey clothing is always worn in combat, and disguising oneself in combat is grounds for summary court martial and firm booting; only other factions in the Confederate movement do this. Beyond this, individual soldiers will customize their uniform as they see fit, from further gear and weapons, to cowboy or campaign hats in replacement for the standard issue cap, to war paint or even tribal masks. Weapons, too, are based on the preferences on the individual soldier; though the ARM-12 is the most popular weapon, shotguns, sport rifles, pistols, hunting crossbows, kinetic carbines taken as trophies, traditional bows, and in one case golf clubs have all been used against the Allies. Beyond General Carville himself, who is in overall command, there are three 4-Star Generals beneath him, each commanding an Army. The three Armies are responsible for three general regions of the United States; their names are only where the army was originally formed. The Army of the Rio Grande operates in Texas and the rest of the American southeast. The Army of the Sawtooth Range controls in the Midwest and Rocky Mountains. The Army of the San Joaquin Valley fights for the American west coast, as well as the deserts of the American southwest. The entire army is connected by a system of telephones, radios, and couriers, allowing for units separated by long distances to communicate and coordinate with each other. The result is that the Continental Army is a far cry from the original rabble of unorganised individuals it was. Where before Peacekeepers could at worst hope to be dealing with people hurling cans and other projectiles at them, now they were facing dedicated, trained soldiers armed with rifles and bazookas, and they could expect to face ambushes, tanks and worse. Where before, a captured member could be easily coerced into giving up the names of their comrades, now the Allies were dealing with individuals who might have received training to resist interrogation. Though the system is not perfect, and there is still the occasional misunderstanding, without the Continental Army it is fairly certain the Confederates would be little more than a nuisance to the Allied Nations. Freedom Guard Leader: Colonel Wolfgang Krause In the world following the end of the Third World War, there are many people who are resentful with the Allies. Not all of them come from America. More than a few Europeans, many from countries like Germany and Poland, hate the Allied Nations for ending the war as soon as Western Europe was safe, and leaving Eastern Europe under the bootheel of Soviet occupation, not trusting Davidova's new shift left to last longer than it would take for her corpse to get cold. There are also others who don't like the Allies for whatever reasons. Either way, there is a good deal of anger against the Allies, both inside and outside the United States. As the rebellion in America gathered strength, many of these people realised that they had a common cause with the Confederates, and decided that it would be in the interests of both groups to unite against the Allied Nations. A number of these people secretly supported the Confederate rebellion with supplies and materiel, while others went for a more direct course of action, joining the rebellion in the United States. Most of these people who come to America rally to the banner of the Freedom Guard, if for no other reason than if for the fact that everyone else in the group is foreign. Canadian mountain men, Australian bush men, Irish republicans and Scottish highlanders all come together for the sake of true personal rights, both positive and negative, and freedom in the form of democracy, and all partake willingly in the Confederate rebellion, hoping that when America is free it will repay them in kind by helping the other nations of the world to break free of the stranglehold of the Allied Nations. The New South Party Leader: George Wallace Symbol: The Confederate Flag The very first party to form that was not present at Mt. Rushmore, the New South Party wishes the promotion of Southern traditions and interests throughout the United States, though it does not promote any form of secession. The New South Party would have you believe that it made up almost entirely of poor, hard working southern boys and girls who want to redeem their cherished nation from the mostly-European immoral filth. And, indeed, it is. However, no party made up of poor country folk would gain any sort of power without backing, and the real core of the New South Party are a clique of old money patriarchs, oil men, and other wealthy southerners who fear that the Allies' attempts at changing American populism and its take on economic policies will open the door to regulations that uncannily favor European corporations. Often, they guide the New South Party subtly into paths that benefit their business. Often, these help the Confederacy as well, so few complain, though the attempt to stop Allied environmental testing of new, more powerful air conditioners so they’d be rushed to the market was seen as a bizarre exception. The New South Party is very active in trying to take control (as it is) of the Confederate movement from the Federalist Party. They argue that the South is the true heart of America, and other regions are influenced by foreigners. They have had some success in this matter, most notably in the name of the movement itself, and throughout the whole movement are echoes of “Johnny Reb”. The Confederate mystique is popular even outside of the South, even though there is little resemblance to the old Confederacy. Other measures have been stubbornly resisted. One famous, if unimportant controversy was the decision for the official anthem of the Confederates. While the Federalist Party endorsed “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”, the New South Movement gained much support for “Dixie”. The whole issue was to be decided by direct democracy, with the whole idea scrapped when preliminary results voted the anthem to be “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies. The New South Party is officially headed by George Wallace. A Skyfortress pilot during WWII and a long time Governor of Alabama, Wallace is one of the powerhouses of American politics. Having just lost the presidential election just last year, Wallace still has a great deal of support in the South and beyond. He is well known for his strength in appealing to the middle class, which is one of the most reluctant classes to engage in combat, thus providing the Confederacy with many men and material through words alone. However, his abrasive attitude against the more counter-cultural elements of the Confederacy (and America) has gained him many enemies, as well. Some of them whisper that what Wallace really wants is the presidency, and is willing to use the Confederacy to attain just that. Environmental Liberation Party Leader: Russell Bernhardt Symbol: A Tree Despite the Allied commitment to clean energy, the ELP wanted to the Allies to do more, such as to stop wasting war materials, cease pollution from other nations, and to better protect animals in the line of fire, along with the demand for a separate Allied chain of command for Dolphins. This multi-faction organisation is based in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and has grown into one of the largest armed "militia" behind the Federalist Party. Gold Panthers Leader: Malcolm Little Symbol: A Panther "FUCK THE PK'S!" The Allies claim to represent everyone, but as Jefferson said, a democracy is just the tyrannity of the majority. In a bureaucratic organisation such as the Allies, relying on statistics and broad strokes, the individual is often forgotten. Laws forget provision for minorities, and spokesmen present the American population as uniform, when in reality it is a rainbow-coloured coalition of people. The Gold Panthers represent those minority races with one grievance or another who are now channelling their anger against the Allies. From different ethnic groups, they joined with the Confederates, hoping for a fresh start with a new government and a new world order. Membership runs from inner city blacks outraged by the Allies lack of effort to help to displaced American Indians fighting against Allied attempts to "modernise" their reservations. Industrial Party Leader: Rosina Velásquez Symbol: A Gear The Industrial Party arose out of the concerns from the more Old Leftist and centrist segments of the American people. Many saw a worrying trend from the Allies. They are based primarily in Europe, regardless of what they say. This means two things; that they are bureaucratic and that they breed megacorporations; both of which run counter to their idea of fairness. Despite their claims of support for the little man, they couldn't help but think of giant corporations whose worker's rights are the least of their concerns. The Allies' top-down way of looking at things will never understand how to build a real system of fairness, they protest, and that this should be built instead from the bottom by grassroots labour movements rather than by-far detached officials. To truly overhaul the system, labour syndicates will ensure that both the rich and the poor would live well and that the fruits of work would be fairly distributed. The Allies' apathy for their labourers was seen as such a threat that the workers of America snapped into action. A coalition of industrial interests, unions, and good old-fashioned hard working Americans joined the Confederate movement en masse; forming the Syndicalist Party. Shortly afterwards, they renamed themselves the Industrial Party due to unwanted criminal overtones. The Industrial Party is one of the more powerful factions of the Confederate Revolution. Many factories actually build weapons and equipment for the Confederates under the guise of normal industry. Unfortunately, this means they cannot build anything too obvious; one will not find a line of Hawkers being constructed at the local car factory, but one might find Hawker spare parts on "special order". This also means that ammunition is usually produced inside the garages of sympathisers, despite one workshop's attempts to convince an Allied raid that they were actually making suppositories. Partly out of principle and partly out of a need of money to keep operating (and perhaps a dash of all-American greed), the Industrial Party charges for its services and goods. The Industrial Party thus receives most of the "Ackerman Bills", which are the Confederate Revolutionaries’ printed currency. The Industrial Party's services as militia and insurgents, however, come for free, if one can convince them to do such a thing. Sometimes this means pressuring a company they're striking against, and other times simply a keg of beer. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rosina Velásquez knows what hard work is. Working up from a riveter all the way to union representative, she is no stranger to getting people to agree to something mutually exclusive. This and other strengths got her elected as Chairperson. She's one of the busiest of her position, constantly attending meetings in board rooms and union halls alike to get private and union interests to align with the Confederate movement, and to reap the rewards the United States would surely heap on those that helped the republic in its darkest hour. Her calm and professional demeanour means she wins over many of the people she talks to, and at least gives a good impression on the ones who wish to be neutral. Unions in particular are fond of her, as she is "one of them". She often wins them over with the argument that Allied megacorporations would be free to set their own labour laws and that many of them would be all too willing to drive America back to the days of the Gilded Age. Free Transport Party Leader: Elvis Briant The AAA is the largest single organisation devoted to the personal training, regulation, and financing for private mechanised citizens for the love of Cannonball racing. To race across the great planes at record speeds, to swerve through the streets of the Big Apple at calculated turns, or over the Rocky Mountains in bitter feats of madness. In recent years the AAA has become a far more organised and better equipped organisation with the development of general leadership and a wide surplus of former military vehicles. National Rifle Association Leader: Charlton Heston Symbol: Eagle with Rifles Originally founded as a gun club, the NRA has blossomed in the light of Soviet aggression to be a guns rights' and marksmanship training organisation. Very vocal about their opposition to many European gun bans while also equally vocal about ensuring that American gun industries were safe from encroachment by "low cost, low quality, Mediterranean businesses", the NRA was quick to join the Confederates, worried the interim president would follow suit. Objectivist Coalition Leader: Ayn Rand Symbol: Atlas Support for the revolution in the North American Sprawls is mixed at best; though the topic sees plenty of discussion in online AURA boards and chat rooms, few are willing to do anything, and fewer still are able. America is often seen as an obsolete construct within the Sprawls, though the Allies and their meddling socialist agenda seldom see any love either. However, the Objectivist movement, which applies a libertarian viewpoint to morality as well as economics, sees the upcoming revolution as a handy way to subvert the system and instate an anarcho-capitalist system in the country. It can't be denied that many Syndicate executives also see this as a way to finally crack American anti-trust laws that prevent the Syndicate from truly "exploiting" the US market. In any case, the Syndicate is officially neutral, though some Confederates see the Syndicate as being somewhat more trustworthy than the Allies, if only because they don't make a secret of their misdeeds. For those that do want to help their American brothers, the Objectivist Coalition was formed between those who live in the Sprawl and Americans who want to live in the Sprawl. However, being few in number and proudly standing by the "me first" philosophy of their founder, combat is not truly an option. Instead, they smuggle components, electronics and technical expertise to the Confederacy, subverting the Terms of Service on state of the art Syndicate manufactured goods by selling them outside of the Sprawls. Thanks to the starlight scopes, signal scramblers, rangefinders and communications equipment, the Confederacy are closing the technological gap against the Allies. On the West Coast, at least, Sprawls often serve as places one can hide from the Allies, as Legion Security will not (and technically can't) do anything to someone engaged in a war that the Syndicate isn't involved in unless paid. If all else fails, an influx of capital can't hurt the rebellion, which means the Confederacy occasionally uses Nulira in place of Ackerman Bills. The Objectivist Coalition is led by Ayn Rand. A writer and oft-claimed philosopher, she is an unlikely member of the Confederate Revolutionaries. Born in Russia, she saw first hands the effects of communism on the people, and especially her "bourgeois" family. When visiting abroad, though, she was enchanted by tall skyscrapers being constructed by the Mediterranean Syndicate, and vowed to live in this place, even as the ill-fated newspapers derided it as a "Sprawl". She dove into the culture of the place, with her works being very popular, never to return to the socialist outside again. Unlike many Sprawl dwellers, though, she takes pity on outsiders, and many books of hers deal with themes of righteous selfishness and the evils of government and religion. When she took note of the Confederate movement, she decided it was finally happening, and is supporting the movement with her personal fortune, influence, and a growing circle of "Randroids" who hang on her every word. While her inflammatory comments about religion have made much of the Confederacy despise her, for the meantime they consider the Objectivists a 'necessary evil' - when the Allies are threatening to conform the American spirit to their ideal, so they say. Sons of Liberty Leader: Richard Holmes Taking the name of revolutionaries of old, this conservative group sees the revolution as a chance to let America return to its founding values and to free America from European imperialism (and subsequently communism). Many of them are volunteers in the Confederate army, and the others support the war effort in other varying ways. Dominionist Party Symbol: Christian Cross "Leader": Samuel Morrow America was founded on values originating in the Ten Commandments, some say, but yet these are forgotten, replaced by secularism and lack of morals. Others say that the Torah, the Quran or the sayings of Buddha should guide a society. Those morals are holy - the Allied society is fundamentally unholy. Holiness must be restored, they say, and if that is their goals, the Confederate Revolutionaries are their means. For this reason, the Dominonists are at almost constant odds with the Objectivists, believing that people should live like a modernization of early Christians who shared their property in common, did not accept the sins of usury and spurned the individual accumulation of wealth upon as ungodly. People should also strive to be kind even to their enemies, espousing an ideology called "liberation theology" where the Kingdom of God would be just for all of society. Needless to say, they are essentially the antithesis of the Objectivists who not only despise their faith, but despise every policy they have. Often stereotyped as bigoted prudes, the Dominionists have taken steps to denounce those of their movement who advocate fire and brimstone doctrine and autocracy for the sake of imposing their own ideals. And much like, and unlike, the actual Puritans, they are far more sexual than one would think; nor do they oppose contraceptives or abortions, and their stances towards premarital relations, divorce, and racial and gender issues are far from closed-minded as one would think. The Ten Commandments are the basis of morality...and only them. Jesus made a new covenant that freed man from the many laws and restrictions of the Old Testament, did He not? If they do have issues, the most of these involve their mechanical adherence to Dominionist dogma. The New South Party opposes them on how they shirk American morality, while the Freedom Guard takes offense to their "love and peace" slogans. Cell 60 disagree with the Dominionists not just with gender, but with everything else as well. Tensions with the NRA often form out of the two's disagreements regarding violence, with them having a substantially stricter definition of when violence is acceptable. There's also the members' unwavering devotion to their leaders. For example, Morrow's word is regarded as absolute law, in which that everything he speaks is the absolute truth. If he tells them that other parts of the Confederacy are going against the will of God (and consequently, his own will), they will verbally attack those culprits without question. Members are recommended to if possible, convert their own next of kin while taking up their own crosses and leave their non-believing family for good. Darker gossip spreading around non-liberation theology churches indicate a vast sanctuary somewhere in the jungles of South America, constructed by the Dominionists as a communal utopia where everyone will be truly equal - shunning those who do not conform to their will. Their only allies include the Industrialists and the ELP, sharing sympathies for economic goals and environmental care respectively. Though their relationship with the Gold Panthers and the New Age movement is frequently shaky due to issues with new and strange forms of spirituality as well as traditional difficulties with minority religions, they try their best to play nice, believing that God reveals himself in many ways as they often try to convince them to see God their way at meetings to their chagrin. The rest, though, are simply neutral with the Dominionists. The Continental Army tries it's best to play peacemaker, the Federalists are too busy arguing over themselves. Not to mention that the Free Transport Party doesn't make enemies at all. Elements of the Federalist Party and Continental Army, however, are suspicious of the their radicalism and fear that they may decide to move towards totalitarian theocracy. For them, they could be simply communists who view religion as an opiate, or hippies who took up Jesus instead of cannabis. Other are more enthusiastic about supporting them, particularly religious and/or leftist branches of the two. The Dominionists are also suspicious of the two in turn; the Federalist party for having two violent demagogues to its name from McCarthy to Ackerman, the Army who may decide to turn this civil war into a world war. In terms of leadership, the Dominionists do not have a single leader, but instead operate on a basis of highly involved and participatory forms of democracy that are substantially more direct than the U.S. Congress. Elected pastors and bishops are also kept in check by a congress of laypeople who are chosen from the broader masses, always making sure that the men and women of the cloth are never too far out of the reach of the flock. Perhaps the most influential, or at least the best known member of the Dominionists, is a man named Samuel Morrow; who studied under the wing of Christian socialists such as Upton Sinclair, C. S. Lewis, and Norman Thomas and met a number of strange people in his life who proved to be generous supporters of his cause. While he did not know it at that time, those supporters seemed to have hawk-related aliases (for privacy reasons), and were more pious than most folk in his life... Cell 60 Leader: Valerie Solanas Symbol: Venus Symbol Cell 60 is a group of radical feminists first organised in New York who jumped on the idea of armed revolution. Initially considered dangerous and psychotic, they have tempered their rhetoric in an attempt to fit in, but still are ill trusted by the rest of the movement. Cell 60 goes beyond most of the mere hatred of the Allies into bizarre and often hate-filled directions. However, their effectiveness in battle both on and off the conventional theatre of war has silenced many naysayers, and generally nothing comes of their rhetoric anyway. Their hatred of the Allies doesn’t stem from their actions against America or their inaction against the Soviets, but instead their ban of all forms of gender discrimination. Indeed, Cell 60 is driven towards the SCUM Manifesto, a document so militant even most Confederate women want nothing to do with it. The SCUM (Society to Cut Up Misogyny) Manifesto details nothing less than the complete subjugation of the male gender (though it should be noted founder Solanas has said it used to be “more radical”). Not only will the world be a full matriarchy, but men will only be kept around as breeding stock. Indeed, marriage (if it could be called that) will only be between two women; they will use a male named a “Valet” to conceive children. Otherwise, men will be kept and trained in large re-education camps across the world, watched over by “Uncles” who keep discipline with cattle prods. There is some measure of equality, though: women who mistreat Valets will find themselves in the camps with said cattle prods used against them. All these crazed ideas come from the founder of Cell 60, the infamous Valerie Solanas. A tough woman, from a tough life, Solanas is a product of her tortured past, from being abused by her father, to having a child as a teenager, and having to support herself through prostitution. Nowadays, she vents her anger at the Allied Nations, due to her beliefs and a specific event. Specifically, she was on her way to kill some unknown artist when she was arrested and put in a mental institution by Peacekeepers. While there, she was subjugated to “Allied mind control” (more objectively, modern psychiatric treatment) which somewhat dampened her disturbed mind, but left her with a hatred of the Allied Nations. When she escaped, she volunteered her services to the Confederates as their top assassin. Many Allied officers, and many Confederates who betrayed the movement, have had their lives ended with her trademark .32 automatic. Confederates know when she is making the kill; it is the only time she puts on make-up. Category:Lore